I was 8 years old, when walking down the street in my hometown in Bulgaria I read a sign “English classes”, and out of the blue, I exclaimed to my mother who was holding my hand, “Mom, I want to learn English!”. And so I began, as one of the youngest students in that classroom, eager to learn, and eager to speak a language that I would only hear in films only shown once a week on Bulgarian TV.

I was immediately mesmerized by my English teacher: Ms Toromanova, who had such ease and elegance to her, and always made me feel loved and at ease. I wanted to return to her classes every week and I did so for the next 4 years until we had to emigrate from Bulgaria. She taught English with such ease and with such playfulness that (I would later realize) laid the strongest foundation for learning foreign languages and would also ignite incredible love for traveling and curiosity for discovering new cultures. I would sit in her classroom, read our English books and dream of one day living in London and even studying in Cambridge. She would encourage us to dream and nothing was impossible when I was in Ms Toromanova’s class. In my mind, I would walk down the streets of London, I would be on a double-decker bus on Piccadily Circus and even see myself as a Cambridge student.

As I became a young woman, I did accomplish all of those dreams and more, and in every step of the way, I would think of Ms Toromanova and wonder how she was, where she lived and if she even was still a teacher, still in Asenovgrad. In every accomplishment, I saw a part of her and one day I hoped she would know what an impact she has had on me.

Few days ago, I experienced one of the most incredible moments of my life. Twenty plus years later, I got to meet my English teacher Ms Toromanova! Words are not enough to describe how both of us felt and how incredible it all was. Her surprise for me was that she took me to the class where she still teaches and I found myself in the same classroom, with students who were about my age, when I first started learning English. They all sang three songs for me, showed me their homeworks with great pride and asked for my autograph, which they said they will carry in their wallets. It has been such an endearing memory that I will cherish for the rest of my life.

Today is Ms Toromanova’s 70th Birthday – 28th of January! I wish her a happy birthday and may she continue to inspire, to share her love with everyone she touches.

I am back to London and back to feeding my soul with art, dance and culture. I had the pleasure of seeing Torobaka at Saddler's Wells. Torobaka is a dance fiesta performed by Israel Galvan and Akhram Khan: two people with two different traditions and styles, each allowing their passion and soul, to come as one.

The month of October was full of amazing developments and one of them was that our first store in South Africa opened in Johannesburg on the 30th. To celebrate the opening, we had an event where top stylists, editors and fashion insiders attended. What I love about the South African market is how open and full of positivity customers are and how they value beautifully made things. This is why, I am very honoured to have our store open in Melrose Arch - perfect location at the perfect city.

Would you like to peek into my office? Here are behind the scene, personal photos of my office in Istanbul. Every object that I have in here has a meaning for me: paintings and art that I bought from my travels, a Buddha statue, a ruby, a picture of me and my brother from Bulgaria and pomegranates from the tree in my garden. And of course: books.